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There are thousands of cities in this world. But how many really made out till the 21st century? Many lost their way sometime ago, during WWII, after some nuclear fiasco, or some unwanted and unforeseen incident. Let us take a look at some of such cities:

1. Ukraine: Chernobyl- Prypiat

The nuclear reactor which blasted

I think you all remember the Chernobyl disaster. It happened sometime in 1986. And boy, it was one incident to remember.

An isolated Chernobyl

Prypiat, the Chernobyl worker's home(was)

Everything, everyplace was abandoned. If you ever go to the place, you would get the distinct impression of a once flourishing -now museum place!

2. France: Oradour-sur-Glane

The wasted ruins

Initially a village, this place was massacred by Germans during the WWII, and till now, remains a horrific memoir of what had happened 65 years ago, and what shall always remain etched in the back of our minds for time untold.

The car that once was

Indeed, this place is just one of the many more horrors of the WWII.

3. Japan: Gunkanjima

Another uninhabited mess!

Note the concrete walls, this was one of the first such islands

A Coal deposit found in the 20th century, this island, off the western shore of Japan was acquired by a company called "Mitsubishi", and then came along the concrete walls and a concrete city.

Gunkanjima essentially means "Battleship" as this is how the island looks from an aerial view.

Looks like the perfect place for a horror film ain't it?

By the 1960s, the coal mines began shutting down as petroleum now replaced this aged tried-and-tested fuel. The island is now deserted, and traveling isn't allowed too!

So what did we see today, well the term is 'Ghost Town'. No, it isn't a town where Ghosts live! It's a once teeming place with humans, but no more teeming. Got it?

Okay, I think all of you have seen alien films and seen many locations on earth itself(in the film) that look good enough to be alien. This blog post brings you 5 such places, that are right here on earth, but sure do look ALIEN!

1. Socotra IslandMany of you might remember this picture from a previous post of mine. At that time, I didn't know what it was, nor where it was. But this is at the aforementioned place in the Indian Ocean!

2. Rio Tinto

This the ginormous open-cast mines in Spain. As you see, the water is red down below owing to it's acidic nature(pH of 2), as google results told me.

3. The Spotted Lake - Kliluk

Located in Canada, it's hard not to be awestruck by this one-of-a-kind lake on earth. This happens in summer, as the water evaporates, leaving crystals behind, and thus forming this uniquely beautiful scene.

4. Blood Bath Pond

This Hot Water Spring in Japan is not to be toyed with, well no one would dare to anyways, after seeing how bloodied it is!

If you're wondering, the spring owes it's red colour to the high iron content.

5. Eisriesenwelt Ice Caves

I bet you've been to at least one CAVE in your life, and obviously seen what it is like. And then you must have thought, ice caves can't be that different. This is where you go way wrong!

This Ice Cave, located in Austria, is one of the largest on Earth. Just one glance is enough to spook the hell out of you.

TechPP is organizing a contest where two users will get free RapidShare Premium Accounts by just subscribing to the RSS feed and one blogger can win a Free RS account by just writing a post about the Free RapidShare Premium Account Giveaway contest.

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Contest ends on June 20th. Winners will be chosen via www.Random.org and will be announced by June 21st.

You know, it's rare when you stumble upon good things, especially on the internet. But I happened to be lucky as today, the tides were different. Didn't get it? Let me show you what I downloaded through "RapidShare", and it was a complete mistake, on my part(still don't know how I got that link in the first place).I liked this one the most, don't know why, but it pulls my mind towards it

The Cliff of Paradise, I presumeBeach side Bliss

Every time I see such pictures, it makes me want to actually be there. I wish that this comes true, in the near or distant future. I really want to travel such places and relax and spend some quality time there.

I remember I used to watch Pokemon all the time(the same episode countless times) when I was small. Me and my friends, we were totally crazy. In fact, we even got together to draw some of them. Here's one of them that I drew. Brings back memories.

Pencil and them darker pencil over that. It looks like sketch pen but it ain't.

We all want to lead a happy life. A peaceful life, one without troubles and all. But obviously, such a life is not always possible. Leave alone the "No-Troubles" part, leading a happy life is quite easy, and if you do so, you'll find life to be automatically more Trouble-Free and more enjoyable. The most important part is to enjoy each and every moment of life, simply because they can't be "re-played", "re-winded" etc. etc.

Well, you must be thinking that I'm just going on about a "Happy Life' but don't know really about how to Lead such a Life. Well, this post is entirely about how you can do so!

Just follow these simple steps:

- Be happy alwaysThis doesn't mean to just stick a wide-fake smile up your face and walk around and go with that face everywhere. It's to really enjoy the finer aspects of life. For example, you're driving to say, a hill station nearby, but don't just drive there and think of this in mind that "I'll have fun and some relaxing time there", instead keep looking out to the surroundings. Chances are, you might see some beautiful sights just outside your car window while you're driving. If this happens, stop if possible, and absorb the scene that got your attention!- Make the best of thingsLife isn't perfect, and good times are not always as frequent as those in movies, but all the same, some good moments can be made such that they will be remembered for life.

Below are such examples of what I've written till now. All pictures are clicked by me.

I was getting bored with the 3 hour drive, but rain lashed streets had a different opinion of mine(en route Nagarbera, a village in Assam)

It was just about to rain, but this awesome scene from my grandpa's home in Guwahati, Assam(India)had to hit my camera

I had been cycling all day, and got bored of doing that too. So I decided to explore the house. But look what I found here!

So this is how I made my last trip to a village and a relatively less lively and smaller city that where I live, more lively, fun, and most importantly memorable. But there's just a little more!

Look at what I found, waiting to be seen by my eyes!

Took a close up, don't know when I may get the opportunity to see such a sight again!

That's all for today's Happy-Life-Trip. Hope this post left you a bit more enlightened in ichever respect whatsoever!

I don't know where this is, but this picture wins "Paradise on Earth" crown hands-down! GOD, if this were to be, but HEAVEN on EARTH

Today's post is unique and different than the other posts of mine till date. As you have seen, the site has undergone huge changes in the past few days. And to keep up with that, I'm making a post that is "thodahatke" aka "a li'l different" than the past post. You may like it, you may not, but honestly, I prefer the former choice!

Today's post is a picture post, much like the ones in a "photo blog." I do hope you all like it. I have no idea where this is, but this is nature's beauty

Playing a game of hide-tree-seek

Huh? How did I land here?

The above two pictures are from http://crazyamazy.blogspot.com/ which I must say, is an amazing photo blog.

I think you all must have heard about the Swine Flu, caused by the H1N1 virus. What, with radio and television sets blaring about it 24x7, it's hard to not notice! Well, many say that the Swine Flu has come pigs, well they are darn right, but not entirely. I won't go into too much detail but here's a short recap on the happenings:-

- Flu virus from bird

- Jumps to pigs

- Mutates

-Jumps to humans

- Causes problems for us

- Potential 2 Billion people can be affected

Q. So, who are at risk from this H1N1 virus?

A. Well, practically anyone and everyone is at threat as the virus spreads through air too. But people with diseases such as

1. HIV+

2. Tuberculosis

3. Diabetics

are at a much higher risk of catching this infection.

Q. So, is there any cure to this infection?

A. H1N1 is a virus, which are neither dead, nor exactly alive. It's hard to explain, but here's a simple one:-

"Outside, they exist as dead organisms, inside a host body, they become alive!"

A picture showing the places where there have been outbreaks of Swine Flu infection.

Thus, anti-biotics just don't work on them. There are only two methods to counter this virus:-

1. Vaccination

2. Anti-viral drugs

Q.Okay, all said. So why isn't mass vaccination being carried out?

A. Here's the main hindrance to this method. Even though 'Tamiflu' shots are said to be effective against the virus, if the virus, H1N1, changes even a bit(highly possible), then it renders the vaccination shots useless!

All this makes it look like this is gonna be the end of the world, and there is no hope. But, not too soon. Extensive research work to tackle this flu is being carried out in all capable countries, and extreme measures are being taken to check the spread of the virus.

This post is a direct continuation of the post: "Dog Story 2" which was published onMay 3, 2009.

http://bluehillsbeckon.blogspot.com/2009/05/dog-story-2.html

Day before yesterday, I was in for a shock, and a pleasant surprise. I was just looking down the balcony to the deserted mid-afternoon street below, when I saw a little while speck amongst the green bushes that form kind of a boundary outside the house. It took me only a second to realise what that speck was.

The PUPPIES! Oh My GOD!! They are back!!!

I ran down the stairs to see them. When I looked down the bylane adjacent to our house, I saw the other two pups in the far corner of the lane, rummaging through thrash for food. I immediately ran up to them and fetched them to the field. But just before, I shouted out to my family to inform them of our 4-day-gone guests. I guess the Municipality guys dropped them off somewhere nearby, and luckily they found their way back.

This was the PLEASANT SURPRISE, but then came the SHOCK!

On closer inspection, I found that the ears of all the three pups were BURNT, a little, but nevertheless, BURNT! And one of them lost half his ear to this outworldly sign of CRUELTY!! God never let such a SINNER live a single day in PEACE!

The wounds must have already been a day old, and the pups were missing for four days. I made a quick mental note never to let the pups out of sight for an unreasonably long time.

HOW COULD PEOPLE BE SOOO CRUEL? What has this world come to? What harm do these gentle creatures mean to us that we humans carry out such acts of extreme and pure EVIL?

Even though we humans have had thousands of years of evolution in all aspects, one important tid-bit got left out. And I think that was "Kindness" and "Self-less Love." Such issues are even bigger than the Global Economic Recession too.

"Dog Story 2" is a direct continuation to The "Dog Story" which was published on April 9, 2009.

http://bluehillsbeckon.blogspot.com/2009/04/dog-story.html

Above is a picture of the first pups that we met, of whom, none that we know survive, except ones who were taken away by kind families.

The pups are gone, the earlier ones few months ago, and the new ones just the day before. I came back from school, and came to know that the puppies are missing since morning. I went out and searched for them in the entire neighbourhood, looking into every drain and nook. But all efforts were in vain. A weird sadness erupted inside, which, for the entire day, kept my mind gloomy.

They aren't there any more. The 2nd and new sunshine of my life, gone. I woke up the next morning very early, and just sat on a chair in the balcony and looked out to the field. An eerie enveloped the entire field. The place where the pups earlier played their morning games, was now empty.

Later on, I came to know that a family of the community complained against the pups(how could these pups ever harm or disturb anyone?), and thus a municipality van came up while I was at school and shoved them away.

On the right is a picture of the mother of the first pups, who were born last year, and of whom, none that I know survive.

I can only hope that wherever the pups are, they are safe and have shelter and food. And I curse those mindless zombies who could heartlessly complain against them!

Now, their mother, who we fondly call "Hiyali" meaning "Fox"(cause she looks like one, I mean look at the ears in the picture on the left), all she does is wander around here and there, searching for her dear ones.

Yesterday, for almost the entire day, she kept sitting outside our house door, for she thought that we had brought the pups home(which we did often).

One of the three pups who were taken away. I didn't even get a chance to save them or see them properly for the last time.